Newsline: Vatican diplomat trusts Libyan rebels’ good intentions

A Catholic bishop serving in Libya plans to meet Libyan rebel leader. Mustafa Jibril says the country’s new order will be inspired by Sharia but will be against Islamic extremism. Amnesty International accuses the rebels of serious human rights violations. “We must back the rebels’ good intentions rather than take their words to extremes,” said Mgr Giovanni Innocenzo Martinelli. He spoke to AsiaNews about the recent speech made today inTripoli, by Mustafa Abdel Jibril, president ofLibya’s National Transitional Council (NTC). Speaking before a crowd of thousands of people, the NTC leader said the new state would be inspired by Sharia but would not move towards extremism. In the meantime, the country is still far from being stable. In Sirte, Bani Walid and the south, fighting is still going on with many civilians caught in the crossfire between pro- and anti-Gaddafi forces. Revenge actions between tribes and families are still out of control and are causing many victims. Amnesty International released a report accusing the rebels of serious human rights violations against Gaddafi loyalists. The report also refers to the lynching of black Africans suspected of being mercenaries hired by Col Gaddafi, as well as revenge killings and the torture of some captured pro-Gaddafi soldiers. The NTC has criticised the Amnesty report, saying that rebels “are not the military, they are only ordinary people,” who made mistakes, but that these could not be described as “war crimes”.